After coming together on the track “Affirmative Action” from Nas‘ 1996 album It Was Written, Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Nature (who replaced Cormega) formed The Firm and released their only album through Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment in 1997. Dre and the Trackmasters handled the majority of the album’s production and they looked to continue the commercial success of It Was Written. Despite mixed reviews, the album debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 and achieved gold status with support from the singles “Firm Biz” with Dawn Robinson and “Phone Tap.”